Hazard of falling excavator window

[digger242j]

This was a new one on me--literally!

Today I was operating a Kobelco excavator. The front window was in the slid up position, meaning it was above my head against the roof of the cab.
I was grading next to a new home, not doing anything extraordinarily rough, when, without warning, the window fell out of it's tracks, bounced off my head, and landed in my lap.

Since I rarely use my head for anything anyway, that wasn't too much of an issue, but the window ended up resting partially on the right joystick, pushing it forward. This caused the boom to lower, to the extent that it lifted the machine a good two feet off the ground on that side. Another foot closer and there would have been damage to the house, but as it was nothing was hurt.

The point is, that things could've turned out much worse. For instance, if I'd been at the edge of a bank the uncommanded boom movement could have upset the machine, or if the window had come to rest on the other joystick, the boom could've swung wildly around and done damage or injured someone nearby.


Just something else for you all to watch out for...

 

[Ford LT-9000]

When ever we run machines usually the window is in the up and locked position. A friend of the familly runs Kobelco excavators he has had the front window come loose and it slammed down onto his hand.

It sounds like your lucky you must have ended up with one hell of a head ache were you wearing a hard hat ?

 

[tylermckee]

Is it a kobelco thing? We just rented a kobelco 200 with a breaker and the window on it was a real work of art, almost fell on me too. im so used to just sliding the window up and having it lock on its own because we own new machines.

 

[rino1494]

hmmm.....now you have me scared. 5,000 hrs on our 200 and so far so good.

 

[CascadeScaper]

I usually don't run with the window open, at least on our new machine, trying to keep the cab clean and it's dusty out there already. I've run plenty of rental machines with the window open and never thought about it falling on me, ouch!

 

[tylermckee]

hmmm.....now you have me scared. 5,000 hrs on our 200 and so far so good.

This machine had been a rental with a hammer on it for most of its life, so it has been used and abused pretty badly. It only had 3700 hours on it but you would think it had double that.

 

[digger242j]

It honestly didn't hurt much, although I guess it could have.

A small part (that's difficult to describe) on the left side latch broke at some point, but it didn't affect the latching in either the up or down position. This is one where you have to latch the two sides manually, either in the up position or the down and locked position. Just to be clear, it wasn't a case of it coming unlatched and sliding down--this was a case of the whole window and frame assembly coming loose and falling from the track.

 

[Squizzy246B]

Digger, a very pertinent thread and you are very fortunate. Around 3-4 years ago an operator in New Zealand was working up on terraces around the side of a hill. He had the front window slid up and was leaning forward to look out the front and down to the next terrace. The window come down on his head and he fell forward on the travel controls which made the machine move forward over the edge. He was killed.

I don't remember the make of the machine. I'll see if I can find the incident report. Its one of the very first things I teach an operator when they get in our machine as the KX 161 can be a little difficult to get the window to lock into the recesses so the bolts can be shot.

I prefer to keep the damn things shut.

 

[Squizzy246B]

Haven't found that report yet but did find this one:

http://www.osh.govt.nz/order/catalogue/pdfs/towing.pdf

 

[tylermckee]

I read a report of a guy on an excavator, and he was setting logs for a log home, he stood up and stuck his head out the window on the right. You can probably guess what happened but i guess his knee hit the joystick and dropped the boom and took his head off.

 

[Copenhagen]

I had to drag this post out again. Yesterday I was running our JD 200 and I had the window open. I had my legs resting on the glass on the bottom. I am tall enough so the glass hits me about mid calf. Anyway, the window came down and I didnt have enough time to move my legs. It felt like I got kicked in the shins by a donkey. I screamed like a sissy girl and we had to shut down for 20 minutes while I waited for everyone to quit laughing. I have bruises on top and on the back of my legs.

Next time I will make sure the window locks!

 

[surfer-joe]

I'd like to have a ten dollar bill for every one of those damned windows that have hit me in the back of the head over the years. But even all that wouldn't satisfy me for the pain and occasional loss of blood. Ya can't help but laugh when you see it happen to someone else, but it's a serious mishap. Worst incedent I saw was broken fingers when the frame dropped down on a guy I was working with. He was off work for a week and it took months for his fingers to heal properly.

 

[Wawrecker]

Our Komatsu 200LC-8 has one of the best cab enviromental systems I have ever seen, complete with possitive cab presure to keep dust out and a seperate air filter for the cab and ac&heat that can be dialed into the exact degree. I had a custom 1" lexan window installed over the cab guard to protect the glass that swings open like a door for easy cleaning. Why do they run with the door open and the window up?????????? we dont lay pipe, dont need to be talking to anyone, so why does everyone have to open everything up??? its not like there going to take the time to clean all the dust and crap out of the cab they let in at the end of the day. Just my pet peave.

 

[dayexco]

when doing pipe work, there is enough of a tint to the glass to make visibility lousey down in the excavation. if it's -20F, and we're doing pipework, the glass is out. and it doesn't seem to make a dif on who the manufacturer of the hoe is. or maybe it's i'm getting old!

 

[surfer-joe]

xxx

 

[surfer-joe]

10-4 on the getting old part!

Young fellas today are spoiled by the nice cabs that are available. When I started, new hydraulic excavators only had some sheet metal around a seat and the operator station, NO WINDOWS! No heat, no A/C, No wipers, no radio, nor even a 12 Volt outlet. I ran Warner-Swazy's for a while, my oh my they were noisy, and hot in the summer. Had a Detroit 3-53 diesel with a miniature muffler you know.

Most front-end loader backhoes didn't even have that, maybe an umbrella if you was lucky. Later on they got some ROPS structures which provided some shade in the summer, but became a freezing wind tunnel in the winter.

Trenching and pipe-laying especially need communication with the guys in the hole. Open the window, maybe even shut the thing off. Anything with a Detroit for sure. Anywhere you are working around people, you got to keep your ears open, so that means windows and doors open, no radio, no headphones for CD players.

Refraction in the glass is another issue, and some guys replace glass with plexi-glass, which soon becomes an opaque mess that you can not see thorough. Many times, the glass on the side toward the boom is very hard to clean, so it gets oil and grease and dirt, which means the operator opens the slider to see, if the machine even has one.

Some guys just like to have fresh air coming in and their foot stuck out the doorway. Smokers are particularly fond of having an open window I've noticed. Those that chew like to spit out an opening somewheres, messy!

Yeah, mass-ex machines rarely need an open window, but I don't know that I'd count a little Komatsu 200LC as a mass-ex. None the less, the cabs do stay cleaner with all the windows and doors shut. Particularly if maintenance keeps up with servicing the A/C and filters. It was years you know, before any of the manufacturers came up with a cab heater-A/C fan motor that would last more than a few months, and didn't cost a fortune to replace when they burned out. I don't even want to remember how difficult it was/is to get to them for repair or replacement either.

Good operators keep a clean cab, even one that runs open. Today's machines are so nice in the cab, it's amazing………